Palmer leading surging Spartans

Sun Valley senior center fielder Kenny Palmer, shown diving back to first base, leads the team in batting average (.381), home runs (three) and RBI (17).

INDIAN TRAIL —

Sun Valley enters the Southern Carolina Conference baseball tournament on a hot streak.
The Spartans, seeded third, host sixth-seeded Anson County in the first round on Thursday.
Sun Valley was tied for last with an 0-6 record but won eight of its last nine conference games to finish with a winning record (8-7 in SCC).
Senior center fielder Kenny Palmer stands out at the plate. Palmer leads the team in batting average (.381) and RBIs (17) and has all three of the club's home runs.
Palmer and senior Jordan Watts share the team lead in doubles (five), and junior Alex Sawyer has scored a team-best 14 runs.
The Sun Valley-Anson winner will face second-seeded Weddington in the semifinals on Friday.

Wotell leading Mavs
Sophomore Max Wotell has played a pivotal role in helping Marvin Ridge repeat as champions of the powerhouse Southern Carolina Conference.
Wotell has a 6-0 record on the mound (2.36 ERA) and is batting .409 with four homers heading into the SCC tournament.
Marvin Ridge has a Union County-best 21 wins this season (21-3 overall) and went 14-0 in the league before losing the finale to Weddington.
Senior Joe Tietjen is also having a big year with a 5-0 record (1.60 ERA) with two saves and a .407 batting average, and sophomore Zach Kuchmaner is 6-2 (1.79 ERA).
As a team, the Mavs have a 1.56 ERA and a .311 batting average.